Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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life at yeshiva is filled with conceptual conflicts and dilemmas. This is typefied by the very name yeshiva college , can one institution be both a yeshiva and a college? thus the yeshiva experience is permeated with the tension between torah and madah. a student is not only required to combine an intensive Jewish studies program with a bulk load of college courses but is also expected to synthesize what he learns, students who succeeded on organizing their work properly and utilizing available time wisely attained the synthesis, it is they who derived the maximum benefit from the yeshiva experience. oh, but a man ' s reach shall exceed his grasp, or what ' s a heaven for? — robert browning for the average student, however, the concept of synthesis was just a pious dream, with only 24 hours a day, one couldn ' t devote himself fully to a double program and still have time left over to eat and sleep, students were therefore forced to establish a set of priorities, though some stressed judaic studies at the expense of their college courses, most individuals succumbed to ' the pressures of getting into graduate or professional school, before major exams, a student would rationalize that success in his future career compelled him to ' cut Jewish studies courses, this rationalization took many shapes — from cutting a rabbi ' s shiur to stabbing a classmate in the back, the system not only tolerated but also- encouraged these atti- tudes, the absence of proper spiritual and educational guidance contributed to an atmosphere of aimlessness. as a result, the once exalted ideal of a synthesis of torah and madah was, in reality, meaningless, exalted ideas of fancy require to be clothed in a suitable vesture of phrase. — aristophanes

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in the development of the educational, spiritual, and cultural life of the american Jewish community, under the leadership of dr. belkin, this goal has been realized via a university-wide development and expansion program, however, many students have begun to ask: what price must we pay to be a national center of higher learning. is it really necessary to squander millions on a law school when the quality of education at yeshiva college is declining? there are no easy answers to these questions, hopefully, yeshiva will develop a philosophy that will enable it to balance the educational and spiritual needs of its students with the cultural needs of the Jewish community. build thee more stately mansions, my soul, as the swift seasons roll! leave thy low-vaulted past! let each new temple, nobler than the last, shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, till thou at length art free, leaving thine outgrown shell by life ' s unresting sea! — Oliver wendell holmes

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